Van Dijk falls in the Vuelta team time trial, but her team Lidl-Trek still wins

NOS Cycling•today, 5:44 PM

Lidl-Trek narrowly wins the first stage of the Vuelta Feminina, Van Dijk falls

Lild-Trek has won the opening stage of the Vuelta Feminina. In the team time trial, Ellen van Dijk’s team was narrowly the fastest, despite a crash by the Dutchwoman.

The Vuelta kicked off in and around Valencia with a flat time trial of 16 kilometers. As a result, the time differences at the finish were minimal.

The difference between Lidl-Trek and number two Visma-Lease a Bike was ultimately only two hundredths. The entire top eight finished within fifteen seconds of each other.

It was the Dutch formation Visma-Lease a Bike that set the fastest time for a long time with 19.20.08. But then SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek still had to take action.

Lidl-Trek had taken eight seconds on the then leader at the intermediate point, but things went wrong in the last corner. Van Dijk crashed together with her teammate Elynor Bäckstedt.

After her fall, Van Dijk had to go to the hospital for a check-up, where they will check whether she has broken anything. In addition, her chin needs stitches and she has injuries to her shoulder and knee.

Van Dijk crashes in the last corner of the Vuelta Feminina team time trial

The rest of the team was somewhat hampered by the fall and valuable seconds were lost. Nevertheless, the stage was ultimately won. The Italian Gaia Realini is given the leader’s jersey.

SD Worx was unable to benefit from the crash and the loss of time and ultimately finished third, one second behind Lidl-Trek.